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Friday, Catalonia unilaterally declared itself independent. Shortly after, the Catalan government was fired and the region is now governed from Madrid. Civil unrest is set to rise. Yet Catalonia is not independent and remains part of Spain.

Abe and his LDP-Komeito coalition were victorious at yesterday’s lower house elections. The disappointing election result for the opposition side is not surprising when one takes into account the short amount of time for a structured election campaign.

Japanese Premier Abe called for snap lower house elections to be held on October 22. We expect Abe’s coalition to win the election by majority, but major changes on the opposition side can turn the snap election from initial logic to a gamble.